Take As Long As You Need
by Nixxx852
Summary: Five times a member of New Directions begged Kurt to come back to McKinley, and the one time someone told him to stay away for as long as he needed to. Written as a response to a prompt in the glee fluff meme.


**So, this is a response to a prompt I came across on the glee fluff meme:**

Sometime after Kurt's transfer, the Gleeks all try and bribe him into coming back. Rachel says she'll forfeit the traditional romantic ballad at Regionals and sing Defying Gravity with him instead, Finn promises to dance with him at prom (and convince the other guys to do the same), maybe Santana says she'll kidnap Blaine and hold him hostage in the choir room until they BOTH transfer, etc ... and every time, Kurt feels even guiltier about having to say no.

Five times a Gleek tried to make Kurt come back, and one time a Gleek told him to stay away for as long as he needed. No character-bashing, please.

**It seemed interesting enough so I decided to try it out. **_Oh, the things I do to get out of doing homework. LOL. _

**Spoilers: There really isn't that many, I think. I've made a few references to the later episodes. There's a reference to the Superbowl Shuffle and Blame It On the Alcohol, but it's nothing big.**

**-.-.-.-**

**Mercedes**

"I miss you," Mercedes sighed into the phone.

"I miss you, too," Kurt replied. Mercedes lay back on her bed. "Dalton's great and all, but I miss New Directions. The Warblers are a bit too uptight for my tastes."

"Then _come back_," Mercedes repeated the words she had been telling her friend for a while now. "The guys will make sure the jocks lay off and you know us girls will be there for you if you need us."

"It's not that simple, 'Cedes," Kurt sighed. He sounded tired. And, truthfully, Mercedes was tired of this conversation, too. But she just really missed her friend. "You know I can't, not with Karofsky there. And, it's bad enough that Sam got a black eye because of it. I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"No one else will get hurt," Mercedes insisted. "I'll even go mess up Karfosky's face myself if you want to. Please? I'll even get rid of that zebra striped jacket you hate so much."

"As tempting as that sounds, I really can't," Mercedes could almost see the smile on her friend's face. "Hey, I have to go, okay? I have a ton of homework. I'll call you tomorrow."

**Santana**

Kurt had been in the middle of Warblers practice when the door burst open. All the boys turned their heads to see what was going on. Wes already had his gavel raised, ready to call everyone to order. Kurt felt his eyes widen when he saw Santana walking into the room. He noticed a few of the boys give her appreciative looks. The Latina noticed, too, and only winked at a few guys in response.

"Okay, Porcelain," Santana stalked up to Kurt and looked down at him. "I can see why you want to stay here. But it's about time you stopped having fun with your little prep boys and got back to McKinley."

"Santana!" Kurt blushed at the comment and stood up so he didn't have to look up at the girl. "You can't just come barging in here!"

"This is a private meeting," Wes added from the council table.

Santana waved him off.

"We need your butt back at McKinley and on Cheerios." Santana said to Kurt. "All man-hands does now is yap about how amazing she is and how great her voice is for some stupid song or another. And no one else but you has the patience to actually argue with her about any of that."

"You couldn't have told me this over the phone?" Kurt said in an exasperated voice. He could feel all the boys' eyes on them. He took a step forward and tried to lead Santana out of the room, but the Cheerio stood her ground.

"I thought coming in person would get my point across even more," Santana shrugged. "So, how about it, Porcelain?"

"Why is she calling you Porcelain?"Kurt heard Blaine ask from behind him.

"I could totally have Puckerman and the guys kidnap your boy toy over there and bring him to Lima if that's what'll get you to come back."

Kurt felt his ears burn in embarrassment. Luckily, the Warblers were nice enough not to comment; he did, however, notice some amusement in their eyes.

"One, he's not my boy toy," Kurt managed to get out, "And two, you guys don't need me to get Rachel to shut up. I'm sure if any of you bothered, you could do it."

Before Santana could open her mouth to say anything, Kurt grabbed her arm and began dragging her towards the door. "Now will you please leave before you embarrass me any further?"

**Brittany**

"Baby!" A high-pitched squeal caused all the boys in the room to look up. That wasn't something you heard every day at an all boys' school. Kurt had a moment to look surprised before his arms were filled with an energetic blonde, who had managed to get herself onto his lap.

"Brittany? Boo, what are you doing here?" Kurt asked as he returned her tight hug. Blaine, Wes, and David shot him questioning looks that he ignored.

"Santana said I should come and talk to you!" Brittany said with a bright smile. Kurt groaned. He had to kick Santana out of Warblers practice just a few days ago.

"I already told her no," Kurt said more to himself than anything. He looked up and saw Blaine and David giving him amused looks; even Wes had a hint of a smile on his face.

"I miss you, Baby," Brittany said in a soft voice. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I miss you, too, Britt," Kurt replied softly. "But we can hang out any time over the weekends, and even after schools. You know that."

"But you're not with me at school anymore," Brittany said with a small frown. Kurt suppressed a sigh. He knew she was going to bring this up the minute she mentioned Santana. Though he knew he was going to say no, Brittany had a better chance of convincing him to return than Santana did.

"You know I go to school at Dalton now, sweetie." Kurt said gently.

"But glee club is different now," Brittany said sadly. "Lauren doesn't dance as cute as you do. And, now that you're not in the Cheerios anymore, the baby cannons want their mommy cannon to shoot me out of her mouth."

"What?" Kurt's eyebrows shot up. He looked down at the blonde who was still snuggled against him. He looked up and saw the three Warblers giving him confused looks. He could only mouth an 'I don't know' as a response.

"You're not there to sing for us in Cheerios anymore," Brittany clarified. "Coach Sylvester wants to do something as amazing as what you did last year, but she can't. So she got a cannon and wanted to shoot me out of it."

"What?" Kurt knew Coach Sylvester was crazy, but shooting Brittany out of a cannon just for a national performance? "You said no, right?"

"I told her I didn't want to die." Kurt felt Brittany's arms tighten around him. "But then the cannon sent me a card that she drew with crayons. And now I feel bad for being mean to her."

Kurt placed a soft kiss on Brittany's blonde hair. "I'm sure if you made her a card back, she'd understand."

"But, then Ms. Sylvester said that if I don't do this, then the momma cannon won't have a job and she has babies and I don't want the baby cannons to go hungry."

"I'll talk to Mr. Shuester," Kurt made a mental note to call the man as soon as Brittany left. Surely, he'd be able to straighten things out. "I'm sure he can find the mommy cannon another job."

**Rachel**

"New Directions isn't the same without you," Rachel said softly as she stirred her cup of coffee. "With you gone, there's no one else there who can share my appreciation for Broadway musicals."

"It really does freak me out how alike we are sometimes," Kurt said with a smile. The small girl across from him looked up at him and smiled back.

"Why did you have to transfer?" Rachel said with a slight whine in her voice.

"I _had_ to, Rachel. I couldn't be in the same school as Karofsky anymore, you know that."

"But he isn't as bad as he used to be anymore!" Rachel's voice rose slightly. "He's been quiet and sulky lately. And I think having the guys stand up for you sent him a message. He'll probably think twice before doing something to you!"

"I highly doubt that," Kurt said nonchalantly.

"Please, Kurt?" Rachel looked at him with large pleading eyes and Kurt had to turn away. "Lauren is nowhere near as talented as you are. And with you gone, it's not as fun anymore. I have no competition for solos."

"Was that a compliment I detected?" Kurt asked with a small smirk. He wanted to get off this topic. This wasn't the first time Rachel—or any member of New Directions—had asked him to come back. It was getting harder and harder to say no to them.

"Will you come back if I convince Mr. Shuester and the others to get rid of the romantic ballad that me and Finn are going to sing at Nationals?" Rachel's question took Kurt by surprise. "We can sing Defying Gravity together—turn it into a duet kind of thing! We'd sound amazing together. I saw your Cheerios performance. I _know_ you can hit that high F."

Kurt stared at the girl in front of him. Rachel Berry was actually offering to sing a duet with him? At Nationals? Kurt turned away and bit down on his lip. He never realized how hard saying 'no' could be.

**Finn**

"You know," Finn watched as Kurt walked into the living room and nearly collapsed onto the couch. It was obvious he was exhausted. "If you came back to McKinley, you wouldn't have to spend so much time driving to and from school."

"I can't come back, Finn," Kurt said in a tired voice.

"But things are a lot better now that we won the championships. None of the guys in glee have gotten slushied all week."

"That's good for them," Kurt shifted slightly so he was in a more comfortable position. "But being in glee wasn't the only reason I got picked on. Even if glee club wasn't such a joke there, I'd still be the only out gay kid in the entire school. And the crap I got for that was way more worse than what I got for being in New Directions."

"You know the guys and I will help you," Finn sat up straighter and looked at his step-brother. "Even if they won't you know I will. I meant what I said at the wedding Kurt. I've got your back."

"I can't, Finn."

"I swear it'll be better this time," Finn insisted. "The guys and I won't let anyone pick on you. Come on, please?"

"Finn…" Finn heard Kurt sigh. The smaller boy sat up and looked at him. "Even if you guys do make it so that I don't get shoved into the lockers every few minutes, it's not going to change what people think or feel about me. I'll _still_ be the _only_ out kid in McKinley. That fact alone is enough to isolate me from everyone."

"I know Rachel mentioned something about you feeling alone," Finn frowned slightly as he tried to remember what she had told him. "What if the guys and I helped you with that, too? Just because you're the only gay kid doesn't mean you have to be alone. You have all of us in New Directions. I'll even dance with you at prom if you want. And I'm sure I can get the other guys to dance with you, too."

Finn started to feel a little nervous when Kurt just stared at him for a while without saying anything. Had he said the wrong thing? The feeling got worse when he noticed the glassy look Kurt's eyes took on. What had he said that was so wrong?

But then, a smile—albeit a slightly sad looking smile—appeared on his face.

"Thank you, Finn," Kurt said slowly. "You have no idea what that means to me."

"Does that mean you'll come back?" Finn asked hopefully. He knew the answer the moment he saw Kurt's face fall.

"I can't; even if I wanted to—and you guys have been making me want to for a while now—I can't. My dad and your mom gave up their honey moon money—all their savings—for me to go to Dalton. That tuition money isn't refundable anymore. I can't have their money go to waste."

"Oh," Finn didn't really like that, but he understood. He didn't exactly know how much their spent on Kurt's new school, but he's seen the place a couple times and a school that large has got to cost a big chunk of change.

-.-.-.-

**Puck**

"Hummel," Kurt looked up from his cup of soda to see Puck looking at him. He had a cup in his hands, but he didn't seem drunk like everyone else in the other room was.

"Yes, Puckerman?" Kurt watched as Puck left the kitchen doorway and took a seat next to him on the table.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for a while." Puck threw his head back and downed the rest of his drink. "I saw you leaving heading up the stairs by yourself so I figure now is a good a time as any."

"About what?" Kurt looked at the other boy suspiciously. He sounded sober. But he was pretty sure Puck had as many drinks, if not more, than most of the others down in the basement.

"You being at Dalton."

"Oh Gaga, not you, too." Kurt let out a heavy sigh and took a swig of his drink. For a moment, he wished he had taken some alcohol. "I've had someone from New Directions ask me to come back at least once a week since sectionals."

"That's not what I wanted to say."

"Oh, really?" There was no mistaking the disbelief in Kurt's voice.

"Look, I still don't know the full story of why you left to go to that gay school of yours," Kurt huffed at little when he said 'gay school' but he knew Puck didn't mean anything bad by it. "All I know is that Karofsky did something to really mess you up and make you leave. I don't know what he did, or what he's been doing, but I do know that it's changed you."

Kurt looked at Puck in surprise. Puck was the _last _person he would have expected to notice a change in him.

"I've thrown my fair share of slushies at you and tossed you into the dumpsters more times than I can count—not to mention all the other crap I put you through. And, I'm really sorry for that," Puck continued. "But, one of the things I admired about you was that no matter how much crap the guys and I put you through last year, you didn't let it faze you.

"You took all the crap we did to you with your head held high and you never once shown any sign that it was bothering you. You kept a straight face. I got locked in a port-a-potty _once_ and I was about ready to crack. We threw you into trash almost every day last year and you acted like it was nothing to you."

"Where are you going with this, Puckerman?" Kurt asked curiously. Maybe Puck _was_ drunk and he was just better at maintaining himself than everyone else. He definitely didn't' talk this much when he was sober.

"What I'm trying to get at, Kurt," Kurt's eyes widened a little. Puck rarely ever called him by his first name. "Is that, you're one of the strongest guys I've ever met. When I got back from juvie I noticed that you were different. You were still the same cold bitch you were back then, but there was something else. You were quieter and the few times I saw the jocks push you around, I thought you were going to break down and cry. You never did that when I picked on you and I _know_ I treated you like crap.

"And then I noticed you started getting really jumpy in the halls. I remember seeing you almost jump out of your skin when someone slammed a locker once. You looked _scared_. And that was something I never once saw in the two years I bullied you. So, whatever it was Karofsky did, it had to be bad."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Kurt shrugged. He tried to make it look like it was nothing to him, but it was hard. It's hard not to be bothered by a guy forcing a kiss onto you then threatening to kill you. He sometimes still had nightmares about it.

"I'm not asking you to tell me what he did," Puck said in an almost gentle voice. "And I'm not going to be like the others and ask you to come back. Don't get me wrong, I _do_ want you to come back. But, I get that you might need some time before you're ready to face McKinley again, especially after—whatever it is you went through. So, take as long as you need at that Dalton place to get over it, heal some emotional wounds or some kind of crap like that. Just know that when you're ready to go back to McKinley, everyone at New Directions will be waiting to welcome you back with open arms."

Kurt stared in disbelief as Puck patted him on the shoulder and left the kitchen to go back to the party in the basement. He blinked a few times and was even tempted to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't some bizarre dream. He expected some kind of talk like this from Quinn or Tina, _not_ from Noah Puckerman. Kurt shook his head and made his way back to the basement. He spotted Puck in the corner with Lauren and their eyes locked for a moment. Kurt gave him a small smile before he made his way over to the stage, where Blaine was dancing like an idiot.

**-.-.-.-**

**Well, this came out longer than I expected. It was just something I wanted to try out. It's my first time doing something like this so I have no idea if I did it write. I also have no idea if I even wrote the characters right :S**

**I've been reading a few Puck/Kurt stories lately and a few of them are definitely interesting. I'm still for Klaine though, but a strong Purt friendship sounds very appealing to me right about now.**

**Reviews would be great :D I'd love to hear what you guys thought about this. **


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